The aroma of richly scented beef bourguignon enveloped my nostrils and I was just lifting the pot to give it a stir when Callie rushed around the corner. “Don't touch!” She squealed, wine glass in hand, nudging me away from the delicious concoction.
“It smells amazing,” I gushed.
“Thank you.” Callie bowed with a grin. She'd come to Paris for culinary school and never left after being offered a job at a local cafe where she'd worked her way to sous-chef in just three short years. “Wine?” She poured a glass from the half-finished bottle on the counter.
“I would love some. Where's–”
“Mommy!” A rambunctious two-year old ran full tilt into the kitchen and wrapped herself around my legs. I hefted her squirming body into my arms and planted kisses across her cheeks. Tucking my nose into her dark curls, I inhaled her sweet scent.
“Did you have fun with aunt Callie today?” I hummed, holding my daughter so tightly she would never doubt my love for her. She pulled away and her emerald green eyes nailed me. “Aunt Cawe took me to the park and we fed duckies!” I pressed my forehead to hers, marveling at the tiny miracle I hadn't even known I'd been carrying that humid summer day when he'd fallen to his knees.
“Oh, how fun!” I gushed with excitement enough to match her own. “Did you see baby duckies?”
“Lots of them!” She squirmed and twisted in my arms before I set her down. “Can we read a book, mommy?” I looked down into her sweet little face with chubby cheeks and bow tie lips and my heart melted like putty between her tiny fingers. I carried Reed with me in my heart every day, but the most beautiful gift he'd left me with I'd carried for nine months. Hadley Reed West.
“I would love to! Go pick out your favorite.” I ran my fingers through her long hair that looked so much like my own.
“I want daddy's book!” She darted off down the hall, returning seconds later with the thin volume clutched in her hands. I settled down with her on the overstuffed couch and opened to the first page, where a picture of the man I loved laughing in the bright sunlight greeted me. My fingers dusted across his full lips, just like I always did when we opened the book.
“I want to go to the orchard, mommy!” Hadley squealed and brushed her chubby fingertips across the cherry trees in full-bloom in the background of the photo.
“We will soon, baby.” I rested my chin on her head, thankful that Reed's parents had so generously given us the small piece of property that overlooked the bay. I wanted to raise Hadley in the home her daddy had intended to build for us, at the water.
Hadley turned the page, caressing a finger along the sharp line of Reed's jaw as she babbled. I'd made this book for Hadley, composed of pictures of her dad throughout all of his twenty-nine years of life. She flipped the pages as I read the excerpts I'd included from the story Reed had been writing about his childhood. She chattered happily in her sweet toddler-speak and it was in these moments that I wished more than anything that Reed could be here with us. But somewhere deep in the depths of my soul, I knew he was.
I loved Reed for the life he breathed into me, but I didn't understand true, unconditional love until his daughter made her way screaming into this world another April day two years ago. I thought he'd taken my heart with him when he'd left me for the final time, but after months of grief and anger and pain, I'd realized he'd been the one to leave me with his heart and it walked around every day inside the body of a beautiful, wild, and loving toddler.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Hadley squealed when we'd turned to the last page, a picture of Reed and I together, his arm draped over my shoulder as he planted a kiss on my temple while I laughed. It was candid, beautiful. It was us.
Reed had also left me with another gift -- he'd given me the courage to dream. It's why I'd dedicated our story to him.
For Reed. My love, my reason, my beautiful burn.
About Adriane Leigh
Adriane Leigh was born and raised in a snowbank in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and now lives among the sand dunes of the Lake Michigan lakeshore.
She graduated with a Literature degree but never particularly enjoyed reading Shakespeare or Chaucer.
She is married to a tall, dark, and handsome guy, and plays mama to two sweet baby girls. She is a voracious reader and wishes she had more time to knit scarves to keep her warm during the arctic Michigan winters.
Stay up to date with Adriane’s new releases here: adrianeleigh.com/contact/
Also from Adriane Leigh
Steel and Lace: The Complete Series
The Morning After
Light in Morning
Wild (Wild #1)
Ridge (Wild #2)
Slade (Wild #3)
Beautiful Burn
Beautiful Burn Page 15